Carlyle Said to Take Lead in Bidding for Getty Images

The Carlyle Group has taken the lead in the bidding for Getty Images, a photographic image service, two people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.

Carlyle has been competing with other private equity firms, including CVC Capital Partners, to buy Getty from Hellman & Friedman. It was unclear when a deal would be signed, though a sale might be worth at least $3.3 billion, these people said.

Hellman & Friedman purchased Getty in early 2008 for about $2.4 billion, taking control of one of the biggest providers of high-quality photographic images. The company’s stock price had tumbled by about 73 percent over the two years before the leveraged buyout, hurt by lower-cost rivals.

News of Carlyle’s position in the bidding was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.